Pisiform excision for refractory flexor carpi ulnaris tendinopathy of the wrist

Purpose To report the long-term clinical results after pisiform excision in patients with refractory flexor carpi ulnaris (FCU) tendinopathy. Methods We performed pisiform excision in 14 patients with recalcitrant FCU tendinopathy, who had failed conservative treatment. Nine patients were followed-up for more than 2 years. Pre-operative pain visual analog scale (VAS) was extracted from the electronic medical records. Post-operative symptoms and function were assessed with pain VAS, quick disabilities of arm, shoulder and hand (DASH) score, patient rated wrist evaluation (PRWE) score, and satisfaction VAS for surgery at the final follow-up. Results After the mean follow-up period of 6 years, all patients showed improvement in pain VAS (from 5.9 to 1.2). The post-operative scores of quick DASH and PRWE were 3.5 and 13.1, respectively. Satisfaction VAS score was 8.8 and all patients returned to their work. Conclusion Excision of the pisiform bone improved symptoms in patients with refractory FCU tendinopathy.